Thursday, August 15, 2019

San Antonio police arrested a man Wednesday, saying he tried to kidnap a young girl at an apartment complex on the city's North Side.

On August 8, a 7-year-old girl took her dog outside so it could relieve itself when 42-year-old Jack Steele is alleged to have grabbed her and put her into a red SUV. The man tried to leave the apartment complex where he snatched the girl, but the victim noticed that the vehicle's doors were unlocked and jumped out, according to the allegations.

The girl called for help, and a witness came to her rescue. The SUV sped away from the complex's gate.

"They had video of him getting in the pool with everybody, and he was like, stalking kids in the apartment complex," said Stephen Gonzalez, the victim's father. "And then he just grabbed her."

The leads included a home address for Steele, which officers followed up on. During their visit, they found a red SUV matching the description given by witnesses — and they saw Steele walking in the parking lot.

When Steele saw the detectives, he reportedly asked if they were there about him "trespassing at a pool the day before." The suspect tried to explain that he was checking out other apartment complexes, police said.

Even after detectives showed Steele pictures of himself from the surveillance footage, he reportedly denied he was in the images and claimed he never interacted with the girl or anyone else at the complex, police said.

According to a KSAT report, police collected evidence from Steele's SUV to prove that the girl had been inside. Though samples are still being processed, Steele has been charged with kidnapping.